Can you folks comment on the quality of this job? This isn't my house, it's an example of a prospective installer's work.

I noticed there are some finish nails face-nailed thru the corners, and presumably puttied over. Is that OK?

I'm not sure I like the detail at the side of the window sill, but I haven't been up close to a "well done" job so I don't know how to evaluate it.

Finally, it doesn't look to me like he "kerfed" the shingles and fit the cap up against the sheathing before running a bead of caulk down the side. If I'm buying OKNA windows and expecting an install commensurate with that window, should I be able to expect that install method is "standard"?

nothing great in either example.
Was this an example of thier premium or standard capping?
Sometimes people get what the pay for, in other words the homeowners may have asked for a cheaper project and workmanship levels may be part of what is compromised.
The nails through the folded sill tabs is ok.
You can ask them to bring their A game and to use as few nails as possble with out compromising the install. You need to ballance how much you say, if they do not use any nails and the capping blows off they can say that you told them not to use any nails and the results are your fault.
By and large exceptional capping is the rare occurance.
DE Mike does exceptional work.
the WindowNerd

I'm not finding any company that has convinced me they can install like the first picture, which looks like they kerfed the clapboard down to the sheathing and fit the cap into that slot caulking the whole thing with one nice bead. That's what I'd like, of course.

to be fair to the installer, the one picture is full capping with vinyl siding which comes out a bit cleaner than sometimes doing a full capping with wood siding.
where i am located ,most homeowners opt for only an L capping opposed to full capping if they have wood siding. this way their casing blends in with the rest of the house.

I would only have them do 1 window at first to make sure you are on the same page, preferrably look at it before and after caulking. I would tell the contractor you are picky and expect an excellent job and put the details of the aluminum work into the contract.

mclaire wrote:
He will use a Fein tool to kerf the clapboards in order to fit PVC clad coil stock, right down to the sheathing. That's what I wanted. For that, he needs an extra $25/window - which I am happy to pay.

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Discussing this with your installer is the best thing that you can do. Around here that procedure is standard (kerfing the siding), but in other areas perhaps not... That is with wood or aluminum siding. A cordless circular saw makes quick work of that task.

10 800's downstairs where the aesthetics would be nice, and 14 500's upstairs saves me almost $900.

I decided that the OKNA's are better than the Gorells, but I didn't want to pay extra for them. I don't think there'd be a measurable difference in energy savings, and when I sell the house in 10 years I don't think a buyer will know the difference.

As it turns out, I'm getting the OKNA's for the same price as the Gorrells. So the decision became easy!

Great window choices.
A future buyer would have to be blind not to see the difference, lift handles compared to lift rail.

Fien vs small paneling saw... the fein will take a lot longer but with more control(also the kerf may be to narrow), the battery powered circular saw will be faster- produce a nice size kerf- easier to have it get away from you- and will tend to make more break out that has to be covered by caulk. Me I like the circular saw.

I was just involved in a competive bid for a project with 800 DX, the 4 bid average was $672. I won the bid and was not the low bidder.

I was quoted $635 each for OKNA 800 Deluxe's with grids, full screens, full PVC cap installation. Do I have a right to that install?

Or should I expect this:

gap2.JPG

I'm not finding any company that has convinced me they can install like the first picture, which looks like they kerfed the clapboard down to the sheathing and fit the cap into that slot caulking the whole thing with one nice bead. That's what I'd like, of course.

The first example is my picture from years ago and is one I installed personally, so I will comment on what it is.
There was existing aluminum wrapping which I took off, replaced the wood brickmold on three sides because of water rot, then cleaned the edge of the aluminum siding of the remaining brittle caulking that didn't come off with the old wrapping. (I was lucky the caulking was brittle and came off easily with no mess.) I then slid the edge of the new wrapping between the brickmold and the aluminum siding all the way back to the sheathing. I then caulked it.
I also installed a new dripcap (that I installed up under the tyvek paper) before installing new wood brickmold and wrapping the window. This was because of a roof above that I suspected was leaking water behind the siding above the window and was the cause of the rotted wood.